Posts Tagged ‘Food’

My wife has been struggling with a number of health issues, and we’ve been through a wide variety of tests. I had my money on Lyme disease, but no the tests ruled that out. Nor was it Fibromyalgia (and it wasn’t Lupus). Earlier this week we were able to get in to see an Integrative Medicine specialist. He seemed confident that he had an explanation for all of Valerie’s ailments and he was quite convincing. Among the treatments he’s prescribing is a move away from land-based animal protein and a move toward raw vegetables.

Nothing is more important to me than Valerie’s health and happiness, and I know firsthand how difficult such a dramatic change in lifestyle can be, particularly when attempting it by yourself. Which is why I am taking the plunge with her.

I will be easing into the dietary habits of a pescetarian. This is apt to be particularly challenging as I do not like most fruits and vegetables.

Those of you who have followed my exploits and know of my writing “process” are likely aware that most afternoons (after I’ve finished my hours at the DayJob) I plant myself in a corner booth at a local KFC and write. This means that I generally eat fried chicken (in one manifestation or another) at least five days a week. Also, while pounding away on my keyboard at KFC, I will get up and refill my 16oz cup of diet cola numerous times, to the tune of at least half a gallon of the stuff each day (plus whatever I may have consumed in the morning at the DayJob and what I might drink later when I get home). This won’t be happening any more (and my sister Adrienne will likely find the timing of this amusing). No more trips to KFC. Yesterday was my last fried chicken. The poor employees at KFC who know me by name will likely assume I’ve died.

I’ll still drink the occasional Diet Coke, at least for now, but I’ll be transitioning to water or fruit juice and the like for most of my beverages.

We have a lot of other animal protein stocked up (e.g., a case of vacuum-packed, smoked duck breasts!) that I will work my way through in the weeks ahead, but I’ll be transitioning to fish and that’s no hardship for me. Also I’ll be eliminating most sugar and flour from my diet and replacing it with a lot more salad and other vegetables. Terrifying stuff.

I’ll also be saying goodbye to eggs and dairy. Cheese will be particularly missed. Yesterday, I was at a meeting hosted by Temple Hospital and they had a small spread for the attendees. To my own amazement, I bypassed the cheese platter and filled a small plate with some grapes, fresh broccoli, and a carrot slice. I had never previously eaten raw broccoli and I was surprised to find I liked it.

I baked up some swai fillets this morning for tonight’s dinner. And right now instead of sitting and working at a KFC, I’m sitting at Bryn + Dane’s and drinking a “Mo’ Green” smoothie. I’ve never had one before, but allegedly all it contains is kale, wheatgrass, pineapple and mango.

If all these changes don’t kill me, I suspect I’ll be considerably healthier the next time you see me.

The incomparable Valerie has informed me that she has begun her search for restaurants in San Antonio (as well as in not-too-distant Austin, destination site for a side trip while we’re in Texas). As you may already know, Bob, my wife trained as a professional chef and while for me the Worldcon is all about the business and joy of being an author, for her it’s an excuse to drag me out for fine dining.

Similarly, while I’m waiting to get my participant schedule to figure out where I need to be and when, Valerie is waiting to learn what time to make the dinner reservations.

I last visited San Antonio nearly thirty years ago for a psychological research convention (I was co-author of a paper my major professor was presenting). As a struggling grad student I wasn’t in a position to explore any of the city’s restaurants. I’m expecting to make that up, with a vengeance!

For those of you who simply cannot wait around until Monday for the next installment of Eating Authors here on this blog, you need not suffer yourself any further withdrawal.

Author, Poet, Digital Media Maven, and all around fun person to hang out with, Fran Wilde has been interviewing authors about food in a series of essays she calls “Cooking the Books.” As something of a Thanksgiving treat, the fine folks at Strange Horizons have posted Fran’s roundtable discussion involving Elizabeth Bear, Gregory Frost, Nalo Hopkinson, and Scott Lynch. There’s even a Klingon reference, so you know it’s good stuff!

So, what are you waiting for? Click that link right now and enjoy the fun!

*I will probably taking a tour of a bison ranch some time next month, as additional research.

Today was originally scheduled to be a “date night” for Valerie and me. Nothing fancy, just dinner and a movie. But that sort of got bumped because of the Reading that I’m doing tonight for the Philadelphia Fantastic Authors and Editors Series. Except then I discovered that I had today off from the Day Job, so “date night” became “date day” and in just a little bit, we’ll be heading out for lunch and a movie. Then we’ll drive into town for the reading at the Moonstone Arts Center, which in turn will be followed by dinner with the fine folks who showed up to listen to me read.

In other news, Spring has come to Blue Bell. To the right is a picture I took earlier this week of the miniature pear tree in the back yard. It appears to be quite happy. Pretty.

Gotta run, sushi waits for no man! Hope to see some of you at the reading tonight.

I won’t be heading up to Boston this weekend. Instead, beginning Friday afternoon, I’ll be hosting a small writers’ retreat in my home. Five other writers are coming in (some are flying in, from as far away as California) and we’ll be doing a series of critiques and novel plotting sessions.Read the rest of this entry »

Like many of us, I wear a lot of hats. In addition to the Day Job, I’m a writer. And a publisher. And then there’s that whole Klingon thing that also takes up time. Finding time to spend with my wife was getting harder and harder.Read the rest of this entry »